In honor of this BIGG award, we’re going to share some tips on how to break the rules!

5 Rules for Breaking the Rules

You have to be careful when you break the rules, because it can lead to being labeled a trouble maker. There’s a study that shows kids who break rules are more likely to go on to become successful entrepreneurs. Also, some of the most famous entrepreneurs in the world broke the rules and achieved BIGG Success.

Sometimes you’ve jut got to break the rules. Use these tips as a guideline for when to do so…

Rule #1 – Know your community

This is the most important rule because it encompasses all of the others. Thanks to social media, each of us has a community that is a combination of our personal and professional networks. It’s important to spend time building relationships and nurturing your network so you know how to communicate with them.

Rule #2 – Don’t accept limits placed on you by others

As a result of doing the work of really getting know your network, you know if something goes against the grain of your community. This is when you may need to adapt or break the rules.

[Mary-Lynn] For the Rule Breaker Awards, one of the elements that goes into the overall score for nominees is the online vote count. My friends and colleagues were directed to a page where they had to either connect a social media account to the voting application, or create a new account through the application before they could vote. I heard from some in my network that they weren’t comfortable with the requirements to vote.

So I broke the rules to make it easy for my community to show their support…

Rule #3 – Follow your instincts

You know what will or won’t work for you and your community, so trust your gut.

[Mary-Lynn] I just knew had to change the rules to get my community involved and boy, did they respond!

Rule #4 – Define winning yourself

What is your definition of a win? That’s what mattes most. In this case, the nomination itself was a win!

[Mary-Lynn} I wanted my network to know that being nominated among 2,000 fellow business owners was a BIGG accomplishment regardless of the outcome.

Rule #5 – Respect the rule-makers

Tread carefully when breaking the rules. People won’t consider your adaptation if you are disrespectful.

[Mary-Lynn] When I made an appeal to the judges about having my social media votes go towards my overall score, I did not criticize their existing methods for scoring. Instead, I told them what I did, and asked them to consider it. I also suggested that if social media posts couldn’t be counted this year, it might be something they could incorporate in future contests.

It’s true that breaking the rules can lead to trouble, but if you do it right, you’ll stand out and that leads to BIGG Success!